Mário Sérgio Leal Nogueira (born 28 July 1981), known as Mário Sérgio, is a Portuguese former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He amassed

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

totals of 137 matches and three goals over eight seasons, representing

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

and

Naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

. Abroad, he played for Metalurh Donetsk, APOEL and

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

, winning seven major titles with the second club. Mário Sérgio appeared with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Club career

Portugal

Born in Paredes, Mário Sérgio was a youth graduate of F.C. Paços de Ferreira, making his

debut on 1 October 2000 by playing four minutes in a 4–1 home win against C.F. Estrela da Amadora. He was first choice the following two seasons. Mário Sérgio joined

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

on 25 June 2003 on a four-year contract, being the first signing of manager Fernando Santos; he said upon his arrival: "I am an ambitious player. I have fought for this opportunity and now want to show my worth". However, three years later and with only 18 competitive appearances to his credit, also being loaned to fellow league side

, he was released. Immediately after leaving the ''Lions'', Mário Sérgio signed for two years with

Associação Naval 1º de Maio Associação Naval 1º de Maio or Associação Naval 1893, commonly known as Naval, was a Portuguese Association football, football club based in Figueira da Foz, Coimbra District. Founded on 1 May 1893, it last played in the Division of Honour i ...

also in the top division. He was an undisputed starter during his tenure, scoring his third and last league goal on 14 January 2007 to contribute to a 3–0 away victory over Vitória de Setúbal.

Metalurh Donetsk

On 27 July 2008, Mário Sérgio moved to

FC Metalurh Donetsk Football Club Metalurh Donetsk (, ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Donetsk that went bankrupt in July 2015. History Club predecessor Football came to the Donetsk region in the time of the Russian Empire when the industr ...

for an undisclosed fee. He made his

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

on 19 August, in a 1–0 home defeat of

FC Karpaty Lviv Football Club Karpaty Lviv ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Lviv. In 2020–21 the club was reorganized and changed owner. During that period there existed two clubs with the same name, one at professional level competitio ...

. Mário Sérgio renewed his link for two more years on 25 September 2009, keeping him at the club until 2012. In March 2012, he became the first player to appear in 100 league games for Metalurh, achieving this feat against

SC Tavriya Simferopol Sports Club Tavriya () was a Ukrainian football club from Simferopol. Tavriya was a member of the Ukrainian Premier League from its founding and won the first Ukrainian Premier League 1992, Ukrainian Premier League making them one of three team ...

; he was released midway through that month alongside two other players, however, having scored twice in the competition, both goals coming against Karpaty in September 2011.

APOEL

On 15 May 2012, Mário Sérgio signed a two-year deal with Cypriot club

APOEL FC APOEL FC (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professio ...

, scoring his first goal against

Alki Larnaca FC Alki Larnaca (, ''ALKI Larnakas'') was a Cypriot football club based in the town of Larnaca. The club was founded in 1948 and it was dissolved on the 6th of May 2014 due to financial issues. The club's colours were blue and red. They reached th ...

in a last-minute equaliser. He also participated with the team in the qualifying phase of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, netting against

Aalesunds FK Aalesunds Fotballklubb, commonly known as Aalesund or AaFK, is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from the town of Ålesund (town), Ålesund, that competes in the Norwegian first division, the second tier of the Norwegi ...

in a 2–1 home victory. He won the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

at the end of his debut campaign, which was the first major accolade of his career. On 17 August 2013, APOEL beat

Apollon Limassol FC Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has Association football, football, Apollon Limassol B.C., basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cyp ...

1–0 to win the

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is ...

and Mário Sérgio scored a rare goal in the 35th minute. During the season, he appeared in five games in the group stage of the Europa League, and helped his side conquer

the treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A continental treble involves winning the club's top-level domestic league competition, main domestic cup competition, and main continental tro ...

as they went on to add the league and the Cup. Mário Sérgio agreed to a two-year extension on 6 December 2014, running until June 2017.

Later years

On 30 December 2016, after he cut ties with APOEL,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Mário Sérgio signed a six-month deal with Apollon Limassol with an option for a further season. He subsequently returned to his homeland, where he played for

Varzim S.C. Varzim Sport Club () is a Portuguese football club based in Póvoa de Varzim. The club was founded on 25 December 1915, and has played at the Estádio do Varzim Sport Club since its foundation. The club plays in Liga 3, following relegation in ...

and F.C. Felgueiras 1932.

International career

Mário Sérgio played for the Portuguese under-21s for two years, representing the nation at the

2004 UEFA European Championship The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

, and was also in squad for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

football tournament. He won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the former on 15 October 2002, in a 4–2 loss in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in the 2004 European Championship qualifiers.

Career statistics

Honours

APOEL *

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

: 2013–14, 2014–15 *

: 2013

References

External links

APOEL official profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mario Sergio 1981 births Living people Footballers from Paredes, Portugal Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players Sporting CP footballers Vitória S.C. players Associação Naval 1º de Maio players Varzim S.C. players F.C. Felgueiras (2006) players F.C. Maia players Ukrainian Premier League players FC Metalurh Donetsk players Cypriot First Division players APOEL FC players Apollon Limassol FC players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's B international footballers Olympic footballers for Portugal Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen